PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Eagles first-year wide receivers coach Gunter Brewer doesn't seem to be a stickler for spelling, but he has no flexibility when it comes to attitude.

Brewer expects his players to be brash. He expects them to wind up on highlight reels, making defensive backs look silly. He expects them all to be FREAKS -- "fresh receivers exciting all crowds smoothly," he said.

Eagles wide receiver Mack Hollins, who played under Brewer at North Carolina, already has a floor mat and signs in his locker emblazoned with the FREAKS acronym and he figures the rest of the position group will soon follow suit. Brewer's always gotten players to buy into being freaks.

And Monday in his first media availability since joining the Eagles' staff, Brewer took time to explain.

"On game day, when it's time to make a play, that's when cream rise to the top. So those particular guys, they show up on that 'Da na na, da na na,'" Brewer said, referencing the tune on ESPN's SportsCenter. "You want to be on the Top 10 plays. You want to make the play that everybody talks about."

The way Brewer sees it, receivers with more bravado are less likely to shrink in game-defining moments. They're the type of players who want to leap over a cornerback or sidestep a safety to energize crowds and alter the flow of games.

Brewer tried to cultivate confidence in his receivers during a 30-year career coaching at the level. He mentored Randy Moss at Marshall and watched as the West Virginia native develop into one of the most dominate and polarizing pass-catchers in NFL history. He also coached Dez Bryant at Oklahoma State.

This offseason, Brewer sent a text to then-Eagles wide receiver coach Mike Groh to congratulate his friend on a Super Bowl title (Brewer played for Mike's father, Al Groh, at Wake Forest in the 1980s). Shortly thereafter, Brewer said he Groh asked to talk on the phone.

The Eagles were scrambling to fill out their offensive staff after coordinator Frank Reich left to take the Colts' head coaching job and Groh earned a promotion to replace Reich. Groh wanted to know if Brewer had interest in joining the Eagles as wide receivers coach, and soon, the two joined forces in Philadelphia.

Now Brewer is in the process of teaching the team's wideouts what it means to be a freak. He brought up the late Dwight Clark's touchdown reception in the NFC Championship Game in 1982 to reinforce his point.

"People talk about The Catch," Brewer said. "It was a long time ago that that catch was made. The Catch could have been made in the regular season and you don't even hear about it. In that moment, now it becomes famous. So can you become famous and be that guy?"

Brewer wants his players to have a hunger for the spotlight, a desire to grab attention. The freaks shtick worked for him during a fruitful stint in college coaching, and he's not planning to change his approach in the pros.

"Your DBs, your receivers, your running backs and even quarterbacks to a certain extent have that personality, that swag," Brewer said. "They have to carry that demeanor. If not, then they usually don't make that elite list."